Celestial
by WinterSoulstis
Summary: Unforeseen events require intervention. Naraku screwed up more than just Kikyo and Inuyahsas lives. Ame was fine before everything was torn from her. While living out her long demonic life she happens upon the Band of 7. They change her as much as she changes them,the leader especially. But once things begin to look up,tragedy strikes. Are there such things as happy endings? BanxOC
1. 1 Traitor

**A/N: Oh look... another story... please don't shoot me! *ducks for cover behind table* **

**I uh...I needed something to watch at night and my friend kept going on about Inuyasha (It's like her favourite anime) and so I thought about rewatching it and now I'm into it again... .**

**So uh... I'm just going to start now... *still cowering behind table***

**Btw... HELP ME! Please? :3 I hate the summary for this story right now and I'd love some help changing it... I'd appreciate suggestions for it. So please help me!**

* * *

Slowly, the girl opened her silver eyes to stare at the blue, peaceful sky above. She heaved herself up into a seated position, but otherwise remain on the ground. Today was supposed to be a momentous occasion; the halfdemon Inuyasha was going to become human using the powers of the Shikon Jewel, and if Kikyo was correct, it would purify the jewel as well: ridding the world of it forever.

Though it would be a wonderful thing for the world if no one could misuse the jewel again, she couldn't help feel like it was a shame. Such a powerful object used for a rather stupid purpose- why would anyone want to give up their demonic powers? She would never do something so foolish. On top of that, why did he need to get rid of them anyway? What was so wrong with Kikyo loving a halfdemon?

With a sigh, she brushed aside all the thoughts and questions buzzing around in her head and stood up. By now everything should have occurred and she could go congratulate them, halfheartedly, but congratulate them nonetheless. The girl turned her head into the new found breeze to keep her long black hair from getting into her face... and froze. The scent of blood was wafting downwind from further up the grassy plane. Kikyo's blood- and it was fresh.

So much for having a party and relaxing. She took off at a run towards the source. Although the priestess had tried to kill her when they had first met, now they were on rather good terms and as for the dog demon, the two of them were close as well.

As she neared the source of the scent, she came to an abrupt stop. An arrow landed where she would have been if she had kept on her course. She recognized that arrow; turning to look into the forest, she caught sight of the young priestess, but she wasn't the normal Kikyo: her eyes were filled with hate and there were claw marks on her shoulder as well as another large wound that dug into her stomach.

"Ame! You're a traitor, just like him!" Kikyo spat, glaring at the other girl.

Ame merely gave her a look of confusion. What in the world was she talking about?

"I thought I could trust you! I believed in you, and let you live here with us, and this is how you repay me?" she continued, drawing back the string on her bow once more.

"I haven't done anything! To you or even any other human since I've been here and this is how _you _repay _me_?" Ame protested, defending herself.

"Enough of your lies!" With that said, Kikyo fired several more arrows toward her. Ame dived out of the way, cursing. There was no talking to her as she was now, which left her with few options: she could kill the priestess to save herself, she could let herself be killed, or she could run. She growled in annoyance, but chose the only option where she wouldn't reward kindness with death. She ran. Normally she wouldn't be so gutless, but she still had her honour, and her honour would never allow her to live with herself if she didn't pay back her debts.

Kikyo scoffed at her cowardice. The priestess stared at her retreating back for a few seconds before deciding she had better things to do than chase her down. She turned and headed in the direction of the village.

Ame watched Kikyo leave, from her position in the treetops. As she scanned the area trying to comprehend out what the hell was going on, she caught a glimpse of smoke rising from the village ahead. Kikyo was heading towards the smoke. Even if there was now a target on her, Ame felt like she had to do something: at the very least, she wanted to figure things out. She leapt from one branch to the next, following the blood trail.

* * *

As she made it to the village, the girl paused to take it all in: buildings on fire were everywhere and the villagers were in a panic. Repeatedly, they called out Inuyasha's name in anger. Ame pushed aside all the questions that were springing up, ignored the villagers, and continued to follow her friend's blood. When she neared the end of the trail, she spotted Kikyo not far up ahead. The beautiful priestess stood with an arrow in hand and had it aimed straight at Inuyasha's chest. Said dog demon was running, with the sacred jewel grasped firmly in his claw.

"INUYASHA!" Kikyo yelled out his name in pure hatred.

"Kikyo! What are you doing?" Ame yelled, but to no avail, the arrow had already been let loose and it was on a collision course with the halfdemon. It flew true and hit, barely missing his heart- apparently Kikyo couldn't finish off her former love after all, but now he was pinned to the tree behind him. Ame watched the sacred jewel fall to the ground, and for a brief moment, imagined snatching it up, but she dismissed the thought as quickly as it came.

"K-Kikyo... How could... I thought..." his body then went limp and his eyes closed, not to open again for 50 long years.

Said woman then limped up to the jewel and collapsed. Ame's face gave way to a somber expression as she saw the last of her friend's life begin to drain away. None of the villagers paid her any mind as they ran past her and huddled around the dying priestess. Kikyo's little sister, Kaede, pushed through the crowd to sit by her sister's side. Ame might have done the same, but she felt like an outsider. Most of these people had known each other for the majority of their lives while she had only been there for a barely a year. So instead, she kept her position and watched the scene unfold.

"Big sister! You're hurt really badly!" Kaede said in a fearful tone.

The elder sister's body trembled with pain, "I forgot who I was...and now I see that..." she whispered regretfully. She then glanced at the fallen jewel and picked it up. "All for this. The sacred jewel which-" she cut herself off with a groan of pain.

"You're in pain. Let someone-" Kaede was interrupted.

"I won't be in pain much longer. And so I give this to you, the Shikon no Tama, which you must burn with my body. It must not fall into the hands of those who would abuse it." Kikyo held the jewel tight. She then closed her eyes and fell to the ground...and didn't get back up.

"Sister Kikyo!" Kaede cried, tears streaming down her young face.

Ame remained where she was. Her eyes travelled from Inuyasha to Kikyo and to the broken down village. They were both gone. In a matter of minutes, two of her only friends were lost to her and the reasons made no sense at all. What betrayal? Why had Kikyo shot at her and not thought twice about shooting at her former lover.

Breaking out of her thoughts, she began to walk up to the bodies but the villagers stood in her way. "Be gone demon!" they spat.

"But... what happened? I don't understand.." Ame said, more to herself than anyone else. She blinked, trying to take everything in and make sense of it all.

Kaede, who was still crying over Kikyo's body, then looked up at the young demon. "It's all your fault! You and Inuyasha killed my sister! All for the jewel! This village trusted you!" she cried angrily, not giving Ame a chance to protest.

"Me and Inuyasah? Kill Kikyo?" Ame echoed in disbelief. She hadn't done anything at all to the village, and there was absolutely no way either her nor Inuyasha would harm the priestess: they both cared for her.

"LEAVE THIS VILLAGE AND NEVER COME BACK!" Kaede screamed. In response, the villagers grabbed their spears and other weapons and ran at Ame. They chucked the spears at her, forcing Ame to back away from them. With no other choice, she turned and ran. Behind her, she could still hear Kaede's sobs as she cried over her sister's corpse.

* * *

The next day, Ame watched from afar as her friend's body was burned. She watched the pink glow of the sacred jewel fade into the flames and Kikyo's soul leave to the afterlife, taking the jewel along with it, just as she had wished.

Ame frowned slightly, after yesterday's fiasco she knew she couldn't go back to the village without being attack so now she was down a place to live. Now she had to once again sleep on the hard ground and go back to a cooked fish and maybe a fruit or two diet.

She sighed. Inuyasha was hot tempered and rash but he was fun to be around, and he was loyal, overall, a good friend to have. As for Kikyo, she never hesitated to help those in need or do anything for those she cared about, a good person to be sure. She would miss them both, but things like this were bound to happen eventually, after all, Ame was a demon. She would live for hundreds if not thousands of years while everything and everyone around her crumpled to dust.

Turning away from the huge bonfire, Ame looked towards the woods and beyond. With reluctance, she left the village behind her. There was nothing she could do right now. Maybe she would come back later and try to clear her name, but for now, she would leave them alone to deal with their grief.

* * *

For the next 40 years, Ame has been alone: travelling from place to place but never staying for very long. As she left the latest village she had spent the night at, she looked up towards the sky. Brushing away her black bangs she let the sun's rays warm her skin. She exhaled deeply as she headed towards the forest. While she walked she allowed her thoughts to wander.

With no parents, and what had happened the last time she had gotten close to anyone, Ame had opted to remain alone. She swore to herself that she would never let anything like that happen again, no matter the cost.

* * *

Stepping out of a river with her new found dinner, she threw the fish to the ground near her campsite and proceeded to sit down. Patiently, she waited for her meal to cook by the fire. Ame looked around the area she had commandeered. She had the river on one side, which was her source of food and water, and the forest on the other which provided her with a good cover. But evidently, not good enough.

The smoke from her fire must have drawn someone's attention. Ame immediately directed her attention to a new rustling sound coming from the undergrowth. Although it was dark out, Ame had no trouble seeing the perpetrator. Her eyes glowed ominously as her pupils dilated to enhance her night vision. The sound stopped.

Out of the forest a monk emerged. He took one look at the girl standing by the fire and knew right away that she wasn't human. "Foul demon! Why are you here?" he questioned suspiciously as he reached into his kimono.

"I'm sick of everyone saying that!" she exclaimed, her gray eyes narrowing. "I haven't done anything wrong so why don't you continue on your merry way."

"I can not allow you to remain here, bewitching honest men only to kill them later!"

"Bewitching? Killing? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I've seen the bodies strewed near the entrance to this forest. 50 good men were slaughtered- it could only be the work of a demon," he stated. From his clothing he pulled out a pile of sutras. Ame hissed- even if those things would probably not be able to kill her they would still hurt. Ignoring her protests he threw the paper straight at her.

Ame crouched down to avoid the attack and dived past him. She hadn't sensed any demonic auras nearby, nothing strong anyway, so what killed those people? She had to see this carnage for herself. The monk cursed at her as she ran from him and gave chase. Disregarding the holy person on her tail, Ame sped towards the area she had been pointed to. It didn't take long for her to smell the fresh blood and merely follow her nose to get to the right spot.

As a demon, Ame was faster than the average mortal and easily lost her pursuer. She stopped once she reached the sight.

It truly was a massacre. Bodies of humans and horses lay strewn everywhere, some were in pieces, others were with gaping wounds that could have come from claws or a large sword. Some even appeared as though they may have had a bite taken out of them or they were contorted with their hands around their throats as if they were suffocating. Judging from their armour, these people were part of the nearby lord's army. There were so many different styles of injuries that there was no way a single being could have done this. There were definitely multiple attackers, but it wasn't demons.

Just as Ame came to her conclusions about the scene before her, she sensed something coming up from behind. She whirled around only to come face to face with the monk again. It seemed as if he hadn't giving up after all. On top of that, he had had the gall to run and fetch reinforcements along the way. Behind the monk was another military regiment from the same lord as the slain ones.

As the young demon had been studying the bodies and their injuries she had knelt in their blood and her clothes were soaked in it now. She looked down at herself, then at the murdered soldiers and then back to the live ones, realizing how it must have looked. She put both hands up in a peaceful gesture and said calmly, "I swear I didn't do this."

The leading soldier scoffed, clearly not believing a word she said. "You can't fool us! This monk told us all about you. Even though you appear human you are in fact a demon." In response, the monk threw another of his sutras at the girl and this time it hit her in the chest.

Ame winced as spiritual power ran through her body. It crackled around her as if it was electricity. It hurt.

"Show us your true form demon!" the monk chanted as he made some spiritual sign with his hand and increased the power.

As the pain grew worse Ame bared her fangs at him. Her canines had grown sharper and longer than the average mortals and her hair shifted to show her pointed ears. Red markings appeared all over her body; they swirled up her arms, shoulders, and neck until they came to stop on her cheeks in a patten that resembled claw marks. Her eyes became a brighter silver colour and the pupils slitted, giving her a dangerous look.

At her new appearance jeers and cries of "monster", "demon", "lying wretch" and other things to that effect were called out by the soldiers.

Unwilling to withstand the pain any longer, Ame tore off the tag with a hiss. As the paper was separated from her body her features returned to normal.

"Prefer your fake appearance to your natural one do you?" a soldier sneered.

Ame huffed. "_This_ is my natural one! That damn monk forced out more demonic power than I usually use!" No one paid any heed to what she had to say, as usual. She groaned in frustration and glared at them. She was sick of trying to make herself heard to stubborn idiots who were were either too sexist or bias in some form to listen or see reason. As the armed soldiers began to draw their swords and various weapons, Ame cursing her luck, turned and ran. She had no intention of fighting a hoard of humans at the moment and worst of all, she had been interrupted in the middle of dinner so she was starving. As if to prove her point, her stomach chose that moment to growl.

She clasped a hand to her stomach as she did her best to outrun the men on horses. As she ran further into the forest her sharp nose caught the scent of fire and food. Without meaning to, she found herself altering her course towards the origin of the scent: her stomach was leading her.

When she got closer to a clearing she began to make out a variety of shapes huddled around the campfire. With the sound of hooves still close behind her Ame sprang into the clearing and came to an abrupt stop at what she saw. Seven people, or at least, she thought they were all people, paused in various stages of eating or drinking at her sudden entrance. From behind her the soldiers had finally caught up as well.

This was not good.


	2. 2 First Impressions

**A/N: So I recently figured out what's the deal with this whole "image" thing that FanFiction has going on now and decided to put it to good use. **

**The pic that's the cover for this story is an edit I made of Ame, so that's pretty much what she looks like :3 Though if I ever edit her again, I'd probably make her eyes smaller cause they look too big right now... .**

**Oh! And thank you _sangoscourage_ for your review and message! It's the first one for this story and it made my day XD**

* * *

A moment of stillness passed over everyone; no one moved a muscle as the two groups of people stared at each other. Just her luck that Ame was stuck in between them. After a few seconds passed, the ones around the fire, Ame counted seven in total, broke the silence.

"What luck!" a man with a long black braid exclaimed happily, standing up. " Now we don't need to track you down." He looked genuinely pleased.

"But couldn't they have at least waited until we were done eating?" another man, or maybe a woman, whined.

The leading soldier then spoke up, "So demon, you were in league with the Band of Seven this whole time? I should have known."

Ame blinked. "Band of Seven?" she repeated slowly. That name did sound familiar, but where had she heard it before?

The man from earlier, upon closer inspection he was indeed a man and not a woman, scoffed. "Like we would have anything to do with this wretch!" Ame huffed at the name calling. From behind, the general grabbed Ame's hair, which she normally kept in a high pony, and held it firmly in his grasp, lifting her slightly off the ground. She clawed at his hand as she tried to free herself.

Today had not been a very good day for her. That morning a group of bandits she had bumped into accidentally, had tried to use her for their own pleasures, which ended up with Ame killing them all. What's more, a young man from the nearby town saw her in the act and alerted the village, so when she got there she was chased out immediately. Furthermore, she had no money thus when she finally came upon another village, she had no way to secure a place to sleep or food to eat. Rather late into the day, after a long time of searching and scavenging, Ame had finally found a place to sleep and had gathered fish for dinner, but even then she was soon chased away by the nosey monk. And now this...

Understandably, Ame was not in the best of moods tonight. She was hungry, sore, and normally by now she should be sleeping. The young demon was ticked off and she couldn't remain passive any longer. In one swift movement she rounded on her captor and kicked him square in the neck, ripping his head from the rest of his body and sending it into the nearby shrubs. Pushing her charcoal bangs from her face she turned to glare at the remaining soldiers who were frozen in place from the unexpected turn of events. The headless corpse fell to the ground in what almost seemed like slow motion.

A whistle of appreciation came from the young man with the braid. That was the cue. The rest of the man's group charged into battle.

They had the most peculiar weapons and fighting styles... One guy with spiky hair was using metal claws to fight, similar to how she and Inuyasha would do. The he/she used a sword that extended and retracted to obliterate everything in his path, it resembled a snake striking. The two who barely looked human were intriguing as well; one was as big as a hill and alternated from squashing people with just his brute strength to using a ball and chain, and the other one who looked as though he was part machine, was using a canon and some weird rotating blades that he launched from his back to clear his path. A man with a bald head, resembling a monk, used what appeared to be steel wires and fire to fight, while a little man with the majority of his face covered, let loose large amounts of poisonous gas; Ame had to back away from him in fear of inhaling some of it herself. While all the members of this little band were amazing, the most impressive by far also appeared to be the youngest of them. He sported a halberd as big as himself with only one hand and swung it around with such ease, killing several soldiers with one hit.

Ame could sense no demonic presence emanating from the group which meant that these were all humans, and that's what made their feats that much more incredible. She stood rooted to her spot in awe, not moving a muscle until she caught a glimpse of steel heading her way. In the nick of time, she ducked. The giant halberd swished by just above her head, taking five uniformed men with it.

"What are you doing just standing there?" it's owner questioned, "If you don't move, I'll cut you down."

Ame blinked and then shook her head to break herself out of her stupor. As the light returned to her eyes, the guy smirked and then continued on his killing spree.

In the minute that Ame had been analyzing the people, they had cleared out practically half of the regiment. These guys were strong... and very dangerous. But now was not the time to worry about that, now was the time to repay the soldiers' 'kindness'.

Ame used her claws and unnatural strength to slash the throats and break the bones of any soldier who was unlucky enough to be within striking distance. Several times she was almost hit by one of the Band of Seven's attacks, but other than that, the fight went well. It was only a matter of minutes before the soldiers were completely wiped out.

The youngest rested his weapon on his shoulder and grinned. "Another job well done guys. We'll collect our pay tomorrow."

Ame anxiously wiped some of the blood off her face with her dark blue sleeve as she looked at the mercenaries, all of which were now staring at her, each with their own expression.

"What do we do with the girl?" the clawed guy questioned, flexing his hands. He looked like he was still itching for more blood to be shed.

"I'll kill her," the man with the snake sword suggested as he stepped forward and drew forth his weapon.

"No Jakotsu, we'll let her live," the young one stated, causing Jakotsu to pause in mid swing.

"But why big brother?" he protested, sword still raised and pointed at the girl.

"She was useful. No point killing her yet."

Ame twitched at the word 'yet'. She sensed that these were probably not people she should test her luck with, even if they were only humans. "Sorry about the intrusion... I just automatically followed the scent of food..." she said, trying to break the uncomfortable atmosphere that was forming.

"Then sit down and eat with us," the young man offered as he placed his halberd against a tree and sat down. Judging by how no one truly went against anything he said, he was obviously the leader of the group, and from what she had witnessed on the battlefield he was also the strongest of them.

Inhaling deeply she tried to decline his offer as politely as she could. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm sure I'd just get in the way. Plus, I'm not even that hungry-" Her stomach growled, cutting her off. She glared at it for betraying her during such a crucial moment.

The leader laughed and patted the spot next to him as an invitation. "Come on, you saved us a bunch of trouble by bringing those soldiers straight to us so it's the least we can do." With everyone's eyes still on her, she sighed softly and went to the fire to sit down.

"But Bankotsu!" Jakotsu protested while glaring at Ame, "We don't need to share our food with this wench just because she stumbled upon us!" Ame scowled at the name.

"Plus, big brother, you heard what that general said," it was the bald man who spoke this time, "She's a demon. She can't be trusted."

"See! She's a demon wench!" Jakotsu exclaimed, "We should kill her instead of feeding her!"

"I'm sure she wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything though," Bankotsu said smoothly, picking up a sake bottle and some roasted pork.

"Demons don't think the way we do, brother. She may not be so rational," the bald one explained, he was against the idea just as much as Jakotsu was, but for different reasons.

As the three continued discussing the topic, a vein appeared on Ame's head. She was sick of them acting as though she wasn't here, and sick of being called 'wench' or 'demon'. "My name is Ame," she intervened sharply.

The three stopped mid sentence and turned to look at her. She met each of their eyes defiantly.

"Ame is it? Nice name," Bankotsu stated, grinning at her. "I'm Bankotsu. These are Jakotsu and Renkotsu," he pointed to the two he had been talking with, "and those are Suikotsu, Mukotsu, Kyokotsu, and Ginkotsu." He pointed to each man in turn. Ame gave an awkward little wave as the introductions were concluded.

* * *

She hugged her legs closer to her chest as the mercenaries fell into their own conversations as they ate and drank. Ame sat there silently, trying to figure out what she had just gotten herself into. Her thoughts were interrupted when Mukotsu, the small man covered almost completely in white cloth, came up to her. She looked up at him cautiously once she remembered that this was the one who dabbled with poisons. "Is there something I can help you with?" she asked quietly.

He held out a piece of meat to her. She blinked at it and gave him a questioning look. "Big brother said that you would be eating with us, so you should eat," he explained, gesturing to the pork in his hand. When she hesitated to take the food from him, he continued, "Don't worry, I don't poison guests." Slowly, she reached for the chunk of meat. As she took it from Mukotsu, her hand brushed his, or maybe it was the other way around. She retracted her hand quickly and hesitantly bit into the steak, eyeing the poison master warily the entire time.

Mukostsu made a motion as if he was going to sit down next to her, but paused and hastily muttered a goodbye before retreating to where he was originally seated. Ame tilted her head to the side in a questioning manner, but soon forgot all about his odd behaviour. She had grown so sick of fish for every meal that the pork tasted heavenly; she gobbled it down in less than a minute. Once she as doen she sweatdropped at her mannerism, she was supposed to be more refined than that.

With her belly filled with food and her legs sore from being on the road all day and the last battle, she couldn't suppress a yawn. She was so tired she just wanted to curl up and sleep, regardless if she was surrounded by murderers or not. It seemed as though she wasn't the only one with that idea, the conversations had started dying down and people were making themselves comfortable.

Ame, realizing that she probably wouldn't be allowed to leave, looked around for somewhere she could sleep where she had the best chance of survival. The clearing they were in was large enough for everyone to sleep comfortably, even the giant. The fire was still crackling in the middle and scraps of meat, bones, and discarded bottles were all over the place. Trees surrounded them on all sides, giving them plenty of cover. The thing that ruined the nice relaxing camping scene was the fact that there were countless bodies scattered not far away. Now that the smell of cooked food was gone, the scent of blood was over powering. Ame wrinkled her nose and thought about getting to higher ground so she could at least breathe a little easier.

Out of all the trees, only one looked comfy enough to sleep in and was high enough to minimize the smell of fresh blood. She jumped, grabbed a branch several feet off the ground, and heaved herself up. Once she was where she wanted to be, she put her arms behind her head as a makeshift pillow and closed her eyes. She vaguely felt someone looking at her before she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Ame awoke with the sun beaming down on her face. She sat up gingerly and stretched her stiff muscles. When she opened her eyes she came face to face with a monster grinning at her. She squeaked slightly as she fell backwards out of the tree from shock. As she neared the ground she flipped and managed to land securely on her feet in a crouching position. She put a hand to her heart as she willed it to calm down. "What a way to wake up..." she mumbled to herself. She looked up at the cause of her fall and gave a little wave good morning. Kyokotsu just stared at her.

"Hurry up," Bankotsu called from the front of the group. Everyone else was already up, packed, and waiting at the beginning of the path, ready to leave. At his words, Kyokotsu lumbered over to the rest of the group and they all started to walk away.

Ame sighed in relief as they left, thinking that she was free. She was just about to go the other way when Bankotsu stopped. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.

She blinked and pointed to herself. He couldn't be talking to her right? Quickly, she counted the members of the band and found that all seven were indeed there.

"Yeah you," he said, confirming her fears. "You're heading this way too, right? You may as well come with." At his words the rest of the mercenaries stopped.

"She's coming with us?" Jakotsu exclaimed, not able to believe what he was hearing.

Bankotsu sighed. "We've already had this conversation."

"Why not just kill her?" Renkotsu questioned, clearly not understanding where their leader was going with this.

"She can fight, she's a girl, and she's not bad to look at," Bankotsu responded, "I'm sure we can think of something to do with her."

A wave of panic washed over Ame. She had to get away from them, soon. But how? Sure she was fast, but with the skills these people possessed they could probably stop her before she got more than a few yards away.

Taking a deep breath, she unrooted her feet from the ground and began to walk up to them. Bankotsu ushered her to the front with him, probably to keep an eye on her, and that's where she stayed until they reached a village.

* * *

As they entered through the gates all the villagers they passed moved to make way for the armed men. The woman were especially terrified, they would stop whatever they were doing and try to hide without making it too obvious, their efforts were in vain. The people's reactions to the Band of Seven served to strengthen Ame's fears. Her legs began to feel more like lead as they headed for the biggest house in the area.

At the estate, they were treated as lords. Anything one of the mercenaries wanted, they got, whether it was food, money, or women.

As the party wore on, Ame stayed in a corner, and contemplated everything that was going on. She ignored everyone for the most part except when the odd servant would ask her if she wanted anything, she turned them down every time.

Without meaning to, Ame must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, she felt a kick to her side causing her to fall over. In response, she kicked out herself and made contact with something. A crash followed by a string of curses emanated from the direction of the kick. She opened one eye and looked in that direction.

Jakotsu was on the ground holding his shin. He looked up at the girl with anger in his eyes. "You little wretch!" he spat.

Ame's eyes widened as she realized what she had done. Quickly, she stood and offered a hand to help him up; he slapped it away. "I didn't mean it, I swear!" she said desperately. The last thing she needed was to give a guy who already hated her for reasons unknown, another reason to want to kill her.

"Why the hell did you kick me?" he questioned as he got up and brushed rice and bowl chips from his kimono.

"You did kick her first," Suikotsu stated, rather uninterestedly.

"But she shouldn't have kicked me back!"

"It was a natural response!" Ame protested. "If you want to wake me up you just have to poke me! I'm a light sleeper."

"What kind of person's natural response is to kick someone without even being fully awake?"

"Well considering how many times people have tried to kill me in my sleep, I've learned to attack first and ask questions later. Especially when I'm woken so rudely!"

"That wasn't rude! I could have dumped water on you or thrown you off a cliff."

"That last one's not a rude awakening, that's murder!"

"So?"

She groaned frustratedly. "What did I do to make you hate me so much? Uh... other than the fact that I led a huge group of soldiers to your campsite... And that was that damned monk's fault! He blamed me for your guys' murders and set them on me!" She stopped mid rant and blinked, gathering her thoughts. "So in a way it was your fault anyway!"

Jakotsu growled, "Why you... You stupid woman!" He drew forth his sword. "You're just a useless and pathetic woman who can't do anything for herself!"

Ame's mouth dropped open. "Wait... You despise me for being a girl?" She exclaimed, anger and disbelief evident in her voice, "If that's not the most sexist-" she was cut off when Bankotsu stepped between them. At this point both Ame and Jakotsu were glaring daggers at each other and itching to draw blood.

"Come on Jakotsu, leave the girl alone," he instructed as he gripped Jakotsu's sword with one hand. Said person looked as though he was going to protest but the young leader didn't give him the chance, "There's no reason that we should destroy this nice house over a petty argument. Drink some sake and calm down." Jakotsu grumbled but complied, putting his sword away as he headed over to where Suikotsu and the alcohol were.

After Jakotsu left, Bankotsu turned his attention back to Ame. "As for you," he started. Ame gulped, expecting to be punished in some way or killed. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the worst. However, instead of pain she merely felt a tap. Gingerly she opened one eye and looked the leader's handsome face. He had a big grin on his face and was giving her a pat on the back.

"Wha-?" she questioned.

"I knew you had it in you!" He exclaimed happily. "You've been so boring since you joined us, it was just no fun. I was thinking about killing you, but that last outburst was entertaining! Why were you so quiet until now?"

"I-I didn't want to get killed, alright? I got freaked out a little, it's only natural," she responded sharply.

"But I thought you were a demon...?" He gave her an odd look, almost as if she had just told him that she had pink hair and was a fairy caterpillar.

"I may be a demon, but that doesn't mean I'm an animal that merely relies on my primal instincts!" Ame said hotly, "Most people don't even figure out I'm a demon unless I do something to give it away."

"Well, if you're going to stay with us," Bankotsu started, "Then you can't go all quiet and boring again, alright?"

"Huh?" she exclaimed, unable to believe her ears. "Stay with you guys? What makes you think I want to?"

He looked surprised at her declaration, as if he wasn't expecting her to refuse. "You don't want to stay? Why not?"

"I only came with you guys because I thought you were going to kill me!"

His eyes narrowed. "If you want to leave, fine. Just know that no one leaves us alive."

"You underestimate me," Ame stated. "I'm fast. The only reason I hadn't run yet is because of Renkotsu's wires, Jakotsu's extending sword, and Ginkotsu's weird blades, but all of them are incapacitated right now."

Bankotsu didn't look pleased, in fact, he was reaching for his halberd as his gaze turned into a glare. But then, Ame did something that surprised him, and the rest of the Band of Seven, who were secretly watching.

"But," she started, her serious face giving way to a smile, "I've always been up for an adventure! Promise not to turn that sword of yours on me and I'll stick around for a while." She smiled widely at his stunned face. "I just haven't been having the best of days lately, which is why I've been in such a stupor, but after all that sleep and good food, I feel better now~ So I promise not to be boring anymore, k?" she concluded cheerfully.

* * *

The rest of week went by rather quickly; everyone talked about a variety of things as they relaxed at the village head's house, most topics somehow pertaining to the new girl who had had the gall to talk back to Bankotsu and live to joke about it.

At first, Ame had retreated back to her little corner, but once she remembered her promise she broke out of her little shell and tried to converse with the others. It was awkward at first but she soon loosened up and was able to make joke with people. She found she got along best with Suikotsu, and after a lot of persuasion that she wasn't useless, Jakotsu. She talked to Bankotsu as well, but honestly, he still frightened her a little. When she closed her eyes she could still see his face when he had thought she was going to leave them; he was really about to kill her back then, and that was a thought she couldn't shake.


End file.
